Hearthstone Closed Beta Now Live!If you are interested in the basics, there is a nice post on the HearthPwn forums here. You can also discuss things in our Hearthstone forum.Originally Posted by Blizzard(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)Here’s a card we’ve been dying to play: The closed beta test for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft has begun in the Americas region!

During the closed beta test, we’ll be inviting a range of duelers from our opt-in pool (along with folks from press and fansites) to try their hand at Hearthstone and let us know what they think. There’s no NDA during the beta, and we’d love to hear all about your epic victories, watch your live streamed matches, and see screenshots and videos sharing your experiences with the game. Please note that Hearthstone is still in development, and what you see and play in the beta test isn’t necessarily representative of what to expect in the final game.

Want to participate in beta testing Hearthstone? Read on!

How do I opt in to the closed beta test?Once you’ve set up a Battle.net account, you can choose to opt in to our beta test from the Beta Profile page. You’ll need to download and run the System Check tool to attach your computer’s specifications to your beta profile. Once that’s complete it’s simply a matter of waiting for an invite.

You can also opt in through our website here.

How do I know if I’m selected?We’ll send you an email letting you know if you’re selected. The email will contain a beta key—just follow the instructions inside to get started.

As always, please be aware of phishing attempts—falsified emails sent by unscrupulous individuals purporting to be from Blizzard, but their real goal is to steal your login credentials. For more information on how to identify these emails, please refer to our Battle.net Security site.

One easy way to ensure your invite is legit is to avoid clicking on links in any invite emails you receive. Instead, just log in to your Battle.net account and add the beta key from your invite email to your account.

How many players do you plan on inviting to the beta test?The number of players we invite to the Hearthstone beta will be based on our testing needs. During the course of testing we’ll be inviting additional opt-ins as necessary in waves.

Is there an NDA?There is no NDA for the Hearthstone beta test. Take screenshots, live-stream matches, record movies—whatever your heart desires! Please keep in mind that the game is still a work in progress, and we appreciate your understanding when you encounter bugs, graphical errors, or other issues. Help us create a better game for everyone to enjoy by reporting them here!

How long will the beta test last?We have not determined an exact date for the end of the beta test. We’ll post a notice when the beta test is nearing completion.

Do I get to keep all my beta cards?We are planning to wipe all player collections partway through the closed beta. We anticipate needing to rebalance some cards based on the feedback we get in the closed beta, and recognize that players may have made decisions on which cards to disenchant or craft based on information that’s changing. After we’ve completed that wave of balance testing and wiped cards, we do not anticipate needing to reset collections again.

Players who purchased card packs or Arena entry with real money prior to the collection wipe will be credited back with an equivalent amount of gold following the wipe, which can be used to re-purchase packs and/or Arena entry to re-establish their collection. These packs will not contain the same configuration of cards as the packs acquired previous to the collection reset.

HearthPwn ResourcesOur friends over at HearthPwn have been busy keeping the site updated through Alpha and creating some guides and other resources for you!

This article was originally published in forum thread:Hearthstone Beta Now Live!started bychaudView original post Published on 2013-08-16 08:18 PM Tweet84Comments 80 CommentsMsi – 2013-08-16

Here we go!

Reply tru – 2013-08-16

yay for… card game?

Reply Mkgego – 2013-08-16

Urghhh no Eu … boooo

Reply Dalanos – 2013-08-16

Release it for iPhone already so I have something to fiddle with while I regen stamina on Puzzles and Dragons

Reply Epuration – 2013-08-16

never been in a beta… no hope for this one either.

Reply Krokar – 2013-08-16

Let me in! Nowwwwwwwwwwww!

Reply furydeath – 2013-08-16

Unless we can play it on motorcycles I don’t wanna play

Reply Noix – 2013-08-16

Woot.. ugh i hate waiting for invites >.<

Reply Tayona – 2013-08-16

No Beta invite for me! Luckily I know there isnt a mount tied to that. Otherwise I’d be cowering in a corner, probably shaking and telling myself over and over

“The invite will come”

Reply Magemaer – 2013-08-16

Bad “game”

Reply ace94 – 2013-08-16

Of course no EU. ‘Cause, y’know, we pay most and we get the worse kind of service around. Thanks.

Reply Porkrind – 2013-08-16

Just in time to beat the Hex “alpha” to the table.

I guess we’ll see who made the better game real soon.

Reply |Dexter| – 2013-08-16

But why we want play a card game version of the same game we playing for like 14 years just with more limits on spells we can use and less dps?! Is WoW not a upgrade of the TCG why do we want to downgrade to play Hearthstone?! Think about it you doing the same damn thing you doing in WoW only now you have to collect your spell cards before you can click them on the action bar!

Reply Denizly – 2013-08-16

Originally Posted by TayonaNo Beta invite for me! Luckily I know there isnt a mount tied to that. Otherwise I’d be cowering in a corner, probably shaking and telling myself over and over

“The invite will come”there is a mount http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=8345

Reply Urza29 – 2013-08-16

doesnt matter to much if they beat them to the punch with release, alpha/beta will be around for awhile for both games and i’m sure they both will benefit a lot from testing and feedback, personally i’m looking forward to both and will be playing both, i’m leaning more torwards hex though, the fact that it combines mmo gameplay to the card game world, is pretty cool idea/concept

I know hearthstone is different than the real wow tcg but i just cant shake the feeling of smiliarities, its like playing wow tcg online, granted its a different game, but the core concept is just taken to an online game mode/world and improved upon.

Hex is a brand new game/world and sets itself apart from wow or warcraft, because most of us have done all the wow and warcraft stuff, at least with hex its not more of the same from an already exsisting franchise (warcraft). But then again hearthstone will benefit greatly being from an already familiar/loved franchise, characters and cards from warcraft/wow etc so i guess we will see

my 2cents

Reply Noix – 2013-08-16

Originally Posted by |Dexter|But why we want play a card game version of the same game we playing for like 14 years just with more limits on spells we can use and less dps?! Is WoW not a upgrade of the TCG why do we want to downgrade to play Hearthstone?! Think about it you doing the same damn thing you doing in WoW only now you have to collect your spell cards before you can click them on the action bar!same reason why people would rather play board games instead of pc games (Wow vs Hearthstone – DnD vs Board Verson of it)

Reply Tayona – 2013-08-16

Originally Posted by Denizlythere is a mount http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=8345Its not tied to beta though.

Reply Knadra – 2013-08-16

Originally Posted by Urza29doesnt matter to much if they beat them to the punch with release, alpha/beta will be around for awhile for both games and i’m sure they both will benefit a lot from testing and feedback, personally i’m looking forward to both and will be playing both, i’m leaning more torwards hex though, the fact that it combines mmo gameplay to the card game world, is pretty cool idea/concept

I know hearthstone is different than the real wow tcg but i just cant shake the feeling of smiliarities, its like playing wow tcg online, granted its a different game, but the core concept is just taken to an online game mode/world and improved upon.

Hex is a brand new game/world and sets itself apart from wow or warcraft, because most of us have done all the wow and warcraft stuff, at least with hex its not more of the same from an already exsisting franchise (warcraft). But then again hearthstone will benefit greatly being from an already familiar/loved franchise, characters and cards from warcraft/wow etc so i guess we will see

my 2centsEven if Hex ends up being way better, with Blizzard’s new launcher and how easily they can advertise Hearthstone will most likely be the more popular game assuming it doesn’t end up being really bad (which it shouldn’t)

Reply Dingolicious – 2013-08-16

Well, guess being European I’m screwed for beta. Hurry up and release it Blizzard please, or let somebody outside America test for you.